October: Good Things Grow Here

I’ve been reading a book called Return to Real, authored by Ryan Levesque, while I’m not even finished with it yet, so much of it is ringing true for me. It has me thinking about why we do what we do here at Alpha & Omega Pizza Farm.

Human connection. Community. Real experiences. Slowing down. Letting kids be kids(within reason). Getting outside, getting dirty, and spending time with people without AI telling us how.

These are all things that seem so simple, yet somehow, we’ve made them complicated.

One quote that has really stuck with me is from Octavia Butler:

“All that you touch, you change. All that you change changes you.”

Think about that for a minute.

When we started the pizza farm six years ago, we thought we were creating a place where people could come eat pizza, enjoy the outdoors, and spend time together. What we didn’t fully understand was how much this place, and the people who show up here, would change us.

We’ve watched friendships form around picnic tables, kids discover that goats don’t always have the best manners, and families spend hours together doing absolutely nothing extraordinary. Just being together.

And maybe that’s what makes this journey so special.

Get Your Hands Dirty

One section of Return to Real that really got me thinking was about getting your hands dirty.

The book references sociologist Robert Park, who believed that to truly understand something, you have to get out and experience it firsthand. You can’t just read about it, study it, or observe it from a distance. You have to get involved.

That really resonated with me.

We live in a world where we can learn just about anything from our phones. We can watch someone grow a garden, cook a meal, or raise animals without ever leaving our couch.

But there’s something different about actually doing it.

Planting a seed, watching it grow, getting dirt under your fingernails, and eventually eating something you grew yourself. That’s an experience you can’t get from watching a video.

And it got me thinking about the farm.

We’ve always wanted Alpha & Omega to be a place where people experience things, not just visit. Where kids can be kids, adults can slow down, and everyone can reconnect with something real.

So naturally, I came up with another idea.

As my daughter would say, “Mom, you’re crazy.”

But hear me out. What if we started a community garden at Alpha & Omega Pizza Farm?

Not just a place to grow vegetables, but a place to grow connections.

Here’s what I’m dreaming up for 2027.

Brad builds a fenced-in garden area with 20 raised garden boxes, each about five feet square. You rent your own box for the growing season. It’s yours to plant, tend, harvest, and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way.

And because we can’t seem to do anything around here without involving food and bringing people together, we’d make it a whole experience.

Spring: Planting Seeds and New Friendships

In May, we’d gather our new garden community for a kickoff event.

We’d bring in someone who really knows gardening, maybe a Master Gardener, to help us understand seeds, soil, planting, and what actually grows well in Minnesota.

You’d plan your garden, choose your vegetables and herbs, maybe ones that go well on a pizza, get your hands in the dirt, and meet the other people who will be growing alongside you.

And of course, we’d end the day with pizza.

At the same time, we’d offer the opportunity to commit to purchasing a farm-raised portion of pork or beef. Another way to connect with where our food comes from and the farmers who raise it.

Summer: Grow, Gather, and Eat Pizza

Throughout the summer, you’d come out to tend your garden.

Maybe it’s during one of our regular pizza events, or another time we’ve arranged.

Water your tomatoes. Pull a few weeds. Pick some basil. Bring the kids and let them see what it takes to grow something from a tiny seed.

And here’s where it gets fun.

If you’re tending your garden during a pizza event, you’re on our pizza VIP list, no online order necessary!

And if something is ready to harvest, why not put it on your pizza?

Imagine growing your own jalapeños, picking a few fresh from your garden, and having us add them to your JJ’s Sweet & Spicy pizza.

Or fresh basil, tomatoes, peppers, whatever you’ve managed to grow.

It doesn’t get much more farm-to-table than that.

I also love the idea of people learning from one another. Maybe you’ve been gardening for 30 years. Maybe you’ve never successfully kept a houseplant alive. Either way, there’s something to share and something to learn.

And maybe along the way, you make a few new friends.

Fall: One Last Harvest, One Long Table

As the growing season comes to an end, we’d gather our garden community one more time.

Everyone brings in the last of their harvest, and together we’d create a special garden dinner.

A meal inspired by what we’ve grown, shared around a table with people who started the season as strangers and hopefully end it as friends.

Because the vegetables are really just part of the story.

It’s about the conversations, the dirt under your fingernails, the kids running around the farm, and the satisfaction of growing something yourself.

It’s about slowing down long enough to remember what real feels like.

So, Is This Crazy?

Maybe.

Brad hasn’t built the garden yet, and if I committed to you that we were done creating, I’m  sorry!

But I keep coming back to that quote:

“All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you.”

I think about how much the farm has changed us. And how the people who visit continue to shape what this place becomes.

Maybe the next chapter is about giving more people a little piece of the farm to call their own, even if it’s just a five-foot garden box.

A place to get their hands dirty, grow some food, make a few friends, and reconnect with the simple things.

So tell me, should we do this?

We’re exploring the idea of a 2027 Alpha & Omega Community Garden, and I’d love to know if there’s interest.

If you’d like to be part of our first garden community, reach out and let us know. No gardening experience required, just a willingness to learn, get a little dirty, and share a pizza or two.

And if you think I’m crazy, you can tell me that too. My daughter already does.

Kim

NOTE:  Please don’t judge the AI mock-up of the garden!  It gave Brad some ideas about what I’m thinking.